A video has been shared multiple times on the social media, claiming a gruesome attack on Nigeria’s northern community in Oyo State.
This video surfaced online at the heat of the Hausa/Yoruba clash reported in Oyo State on Friday, February 12, 2021, leading to a trending hashtag #StopKillingNortherners on Twitter the following day.
Multiple Twitter users shared the video reportedly to call attention to the ongoing crisis in Oyo State, South-Western region of Nigeria.
A Twitter handle @SirTafawaBalewa shared the video with the following texts: “#StopKillingNortherners in Oyo State. Enough is Enough!”
The video which was also shared by @Am_Saleem and @El_abdool shows people lynching a number of men on the allegations that they were Fulani herdsmen caught with guns and weapons.
Despite pleas from other individuals within the mob discouraging the hoodlums from jungle justice, some of them or their belongings were later set ablaze, with fire seen in the video.
The action has, however, been criticised by most people on the thread.
The Claim
The video shows the attack on northerners in Oyo State following the Hausa/Yoruba clash in Shasha community, Akinyele Local Government Area.
The Findings
Multiple searches conducted by the FactCheckHub traced the video to Edo State and not Oyo State as alluded in the viral tweets.
The earliest time it appeared on the internet was on February 8, 2021, when the suspects were reportedly caught with rifles and other weapons.
The report stated that the incident happened around Ekenwan in Benin City, Edo State.
A version of the video was also found on a Facebook story by Sanmi Oje. The location was identified as Edo State. “Edo state is no longer safe,” said an unidentified narrator in the video.
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On February 8, 2021, yet another version of the video was posted on YouTube. The commentator, whose face was shown in the video, said it happened at Ekenwan barrack, in Edo State.
Even though the same video was taken from different angles with different commentators, it was from the same incident as the same cars and rifles were identified. From the different angles of the video, people could be seen recording the incident with their smartphones. This explains why there are different versions of the incident from different angles.
In addition, the language spoken in the video was not Yoruba but Pidgin English peculiar to natives of Southern Nigeria, majorly and also Bini, a native language spoken in Edo State.
The Oyo clash between the Hausa and Yoruba was reported to have started on February 10, 2021 and escalated by the evening of February 12, 2021.
This implies that the incident shared in the claim had occurred a few days before the Oyo ethnic clash and at least four days before the escalation that led to the destructions at Shasha in Akinyele Local Government Area of Oyo State.
Furthermore, Chidi Nwabuzor, spokesperson for Edo State Police Command, confirmed to the FactCheckHub that the incident took place in Edo State.
He said, “The incident happened in Ogede Community, Ovia South-West, Edo State. Four persons were involved and they were alleged to have been caught with firearms and they could not give reasons why they bared arms. They were not with any government recognised security organisation.”
The Verdict
The claim that the video shows an attack on northerners in Oyo State following the Hausa/Yoruba clash in Shasha, Akinyele Local Government Area, is FALSE. This is because the video predates the Oyo incident.
Olugbenga heads the Investigations Desk at The ICIR. Do you have a scoop? Shoot him an email at [email protected]. Twitter Handle: @OluAdanikin